Taiwan's military has conducted a rare nighttime tank drill on the outlying islands of Penghu. Although this exercise is routine, it comes amid heightened military activity in the Taiwan Strait.
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00:00A show of force on Taiwan's Penghu Islands.
00:07Taiwan's military here is conducting live-fire exercises using recently upgraded tanks and
00:13artillery to practice defending the coastline against enemy ships and drones.
00:19This exercise is usually carried out early in the morning, but for the first time the
00:23military is switching it up, conducting this drill closer to midnight and making it harder
00:28to hit targets.
00:45Recently military activity in the Taiwan Strait has surged, with Beijing conducting some of
00:50its largest military exercises around Taiwan, simulating a blockade of the country.
00:56And just a few kilometers away, Taiwan's military has also been busy.
01:01For the past few days, the skies and seas around Penghu have been lit up with hundreds
01:05of rounds of tank and artillery fire.
01:08Taiwan says that this show is a demonstration of its military capabilities, demonstrating
01:12just how difficult it is to attack the country.
01:15Sitting in the middle of the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan's Penghu islands are critical for the
01:19country's defense against China, which is threatening to bring Taiwan under its control
01:23by force.
01:25Analysts say these drills in the islands themselves play a big role in testing how
01:29quickly Taiwan's military can mobilize and respond to any threat.
01:33The Penghu islands, I think, will provide a couple of different benefits to Taiwan.
01:38One is forward ISR, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance.
01:42The more time that the Taiwanese military forces have to see what the Chinese forces
01:48are doing, the easier it is for them to respond.
01:51Taiwan says for the rest of October, all branches of the military will be conducting
01:55exercises.
01:56But for the soldiers on the islands closer to China, the pressure of these drills might
02:00just feel a bit more real, as it could someday be on the front line of a conflict.
02:05Fu Huahong in Hameokan in Penghu for Taiwan Plus.